Life preserver



A. DEsJARLAls ETAL LIFE PRESERVER Filed' Aug. 414. 195s July 21, '19592,895,147

LIFE PRESERVER Arthur Desjarlais, Springfield, and Frederick E.Desjarlais, Agawam, Mass.

This invention is concerned with improvements in life preservers and hasfor its principal object a means for providing a person with a lightweight automatic or manual type of life preserver that will keep theperson afloat.

Heretofore life preservers have been found to be inecient in certaindetails of construction and in the cost of manufacture.

It is a principal object of the within invention to provide a lifepreserver that has certain features that make for low cost production.

It is yet another object of the within invention to provide a compactlife preserver which may be inllated manually.

It is still another object of the within invention to provide a lifepreserver that has a novel means for securing an automatic valve forreleasing a cartridge of compressed gas into the inner circuit of thelife preserver.

It is yet another object of the within invention to provide a manualtype valve means enabling the user to blow air into the inner circuit ofthe life preserver.

These and other objects are attained by the use of a high pressure tankvalve that is connected in parallel with a mouth valve and in circuitwith a pair of water wings.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists inthe construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed and illustrated in the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the assembly with the tank valve andmouth valve in the foreground.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the life preserver shown in perspectivein Figure 1, in open position.

Figure 3 is a semi-schematic diagram of the air circuit of the lifepreserver.

Figure 4 is a perspective view disclosing the novel means for securingthe tank valve assembly to the life preserver belt.

The buckle 1 is of the conventional type and has inserted therethroughthe leather belt portion 2 of the life preserver belt. The aps 3 concealthe water wings 4. The water wings 4 are identical with the water wingsas disclosed by our Patent #2,716,245. For this reason, explanation ofthe way the flaps 3 conceal the folded water wings 4 is felt to beunwarranted.

Mounted also in the belt is a tank valve assembly 8 which is disclosedin detail in the patent of Arthur Desjarlais, one f the inventorsherein, Patent ttf-'2,749,079 Because this valve assembly 8 is so welltaught in the said patent disclosure, it is also felt that any detaileddescription of the valve assembly 8 is unwarranted in this instance.

A valve 10 which is of the manual type is mounted also in the belt. ltis mounted in the cloth section of the belt which is referred to as thenumeral 29. This valve 10 is also disclosed in our Patent #2,716,245 inFigures 14, l5, 16, and 17 and for this reason it is felt that adetailed description is unwarranted.

United States Patent() Reference is made particularly now to the aircircuit shown in Figure 3. As can be seen the automatic valve assembly 8with its automatic valve knob 7 is secured to an L-shaped tubing 12 tothe valve outlet coupling 11. The L-shaped tube 12 is secured to a Tconnection 13. The T connection 13 has the conventional anges 30 securedthereon to prevent slipping and to make a better connection to the innerhose 26 of the air circuit.

The hose or tubing 26 connects from one side of the T connection 13directly to one of the bladders 5. The other side of the T connection 13is connected by the tubing 26 to a T connection designated as `14. Atthe top of the T connection 14 is a vertical hose or tubing member 9which interconnects the T member 14 with the manual valve 10. At the farside, opposite from the automatic valve assembly 8, is another sectionof the tubing 26 which interconnects the T connection 14 with the otherbladder 5. The bladders 5 are of course covered with the cloth material4 similarly as discussed and disclosed in our Patent Number 2,716,245.The air circuit or tubing 26 is covered by the cloth material 29.

One of the problems that had to be overcome in arranging the lifepreserver of this invention was the mounting of the valve assembly S inthe cloth structure 29 of the life preserver. It is to be understoodthat the valve assembly 8 utilizes compressed gas which is stored in asmall tank 27. The tank 27 can be unscrewed of course and replaced by afull tank when used. With these problems in mind, it became necessary tomake an arrangement that adapted the device to be easily replaced asshown in the view of Figure 4.

Secured to the belt material 29 is an aluminum fastening block 20 whichhas a concave surface to receive the cylindrical shape of the tank 27.In the embodiment disclosed, the block 20 was sewn by thread 22 to thebelting material 29. The block 20 was therefone designed with anelongated slot 21 through which the thread 22 could be secured to thebelting material 29. However, it is contemplated that in mass productioncircular openings may be used in place of the elongated slots 21 andthat a riveting machine could easily be employed to rivet the block 20to the cloth material 29. Connected to the block 20 is a holding clip 23which circurnscribes the circular portion of the tank 27 and it locksinto the block at its far end by the screw 25 in the opening 24. Theblock 20 has beneath the screw 25 a threaded opening, which is not shownbut which is conventional. This threaded opening receives the screw 25.At the bottom of the tank 27 is the conventional safety valve 28. Inplacing the tank into position, foresight for the possible blow otf ofthe valve 28 had to be planned. Therefore the design of the liap 15 wasdevised. The flap 15 is a piece of cloth that has the female snaps 16along with the male snaps 17 and when placed over the tank 27 concealssame but leaves a small opening between the flap 15 and the fixedportion 6 which is behind the block 20 and is also sewn or riveted tothe belt material 29.

Reference is again made to the view of Figure 1 in which the valveassembly 8 is disclosed. It is to be noted that extending from the valveassembly 8 is the valve stern 18, which interconnects the coupling 11. Aclamp 19 securely fastens the L-shaped tube 12 to the auto matic valveassembly 8.

The user who desires to release the gas from the tank 27 merely opensthe tank valve knob 7 until the gas from the tank 27 is released andpasses into the air circuit as disclosed in Figure 3, whereupon thebladders 5 are inflated. It is to be noted of course that the mouthvalve 10 must be secured and closed so that the air will not bereleased.

To inflate the bladders 5 by mouth it is best to close wings, a hollowair tube, a rst T-connection, an L- to the other water wing, said waterwings being mounted shaped air tube having one end connected toone endY,

of the T-connection, a tank valve assembly, a source of air in said tankvalve assembly, an outlet from said source of air, said outlet connectedto the other end of the L-shaped tube, one segment of said hollow tubeconnected to a second end of said T-connection and to a water Iwing, asecond segment of said hollow tube connected to said third end of saidT-connection, a second T-connection, a mouth valve connected to one endof said second T-connection, said second segment of said hollow tubeconnected to the second end of said second T-connection, a third segmentof said hollow tube connected to the third end of said secondT-connection and on a belt, said hollow tube segments being within thebelt, a mounting block attached to the outside of said belt, a clampingmeans for securing said tank valve assembly to the block, the contactingsurface of said block compleinenting the contour of the contactingsurface of said tank valve assembly, and a ap means for covering thesaid tank assembly.

References Cited n the le. of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,173,482 Carlson Feb. 29, 1916 1,236,310 Johnson Aug. 7, 1917 1,590,151Drapeau June 22, 1926 2,123,446 Veenstra Iuly 12, 1938 2,359,843 HarrisOct. 10, 1944 2,580,639 Baker Jan. 1, 1952 2,716,245 Desjarlais et al.Aug. 30, 1955

